Cradle Will Rock
This is about '''the film.' For the stage play on which it is based, see The Cradle Will Rock.'' Cast Singing roles *Susan Sarandon - Margherita Sarfati *Emily Watson - Olive Stanton *Victoria Clark - Dulce Fox *Erin Hill - Sandra Mescal *Daniel Jenkins - Will Geer *Timothy Jerome - Bert Weston *Chris McKinney - Canada Lee/Reverend Salvation *Henry Stram - Hiram Sherman Non-singing roles *Hank Azaria - Marc Blitzstein *Rubén Blades - Diego Rivera *Joan Cusack - Hazel Huffman *John Cusack - Nelson Rockefeller *Cary Elwes - John Houseman *Angus Macfadyen - Orson Welles *Bill Murray - Tommy Crickshaw *Vanessa Redgrave - Countess Constance La Grange Plot The film begins with a long tracking shot focusing on a destitute young woman named Olive Stanton. She is sleeping illegally in a theater, being awakened and kicked out. The shot continues as she slowly walks down the street following the sound of the song Nickel Under My Foot. When she arrives at the source of the music, the camera pans up the side of the building and moves inside where we are introduced to the playwright Marc Blitzstein, who is attempting to write the songs and put together the musical The Cradle Will Rock. Acting as Blitzstein’s conscience/mentors are a vision of his deceased wife and, later, an imaginary Bertolt Brecht. Brecht was a radical playwright who stressed the importance of breaking down the wall between the audience and actors. The film continues, providing a picture of life in the 1930s, a time when some people wait in endless unemployment lines attempting to get work while others enjoy their wealth, attending parties and purchasing expensive works of art. As the musical nears production, the WPA cuts the budget for the Federal Theatre Project (FTP) and puts a halt to all new productions. This announcement comes following the House Committee on Un-American Activities’ investigation of many of those involved in the FTP, and of the musical itself, due to its leftist themes concerning labor and union organization. Despite being canceled, the director, Orson Welles, and producer, John Houseman, lead the cast to another theater that was secured at the last minute. The cast is forbidden to perform by their union, so Blitzstein takes the stage alone at an upright piano to perform the show himself. He is shortly joined by many of the other cast members, delivering their lines from the audience. Robbins juxtaposes this final triumphant moment of the theater with images of the destruction of the mural Man at the Crossroads commissioned by Nelson Rockefeller because the artist, Diego Rivera, refused to remove the image of Lenin's face from the piece. In tying together stories of labor issues and steel strikes, censorship in painting and theater, and the disparities of wealth and power, Robbins is able to paint a picture of the 1930s that goes beyond simply recounting past events and questions the boundaries between art, power and politics. Furthermore, Robbins attempts to link these issues to the present day through the final shot of the film. The camera follows a mock funeral procession for the FTP as it marches into Times Square, only to pan up from this scene to a shot of the high rises and neon billboards that stand there today. Musical numbers *"Let's Do Something" - Sandra and Will *"The Cradle Will Rock" - Hiram, Bert, Dulce, Sandra, Will and Rev. Salvation *"Honolulu" - Bert, Dulce, Sandra and Will *"Moll's Song" - Olive *"Oh What a Filthy Night Court" - Hiram, Sandra, Will, Bert, Dulce and Rev. Salvation *"Croon Spoon" - Eddie Vedder and Margherita *"Art for Art's Sake" - Hiram. Sandra, Will, Bert, Dulce and Reverend Salvation Category:Films